Secrets in the Shadows
Read Secrets in the Shadows Online
Authors: T. L. Haddix
Tags: #Literature & Fiction, #Romance, #Contemporary, #Romantic Suspense, #Mystery & Suspense, #Suspense
| Secrets in the Shadows | |
| T. L. Haddix | |
| Streetlight Graphics Publishing (2010) | |
| Rating: | ★★★★☆ |
| Tags: | Literature Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Romantic Suspense, Mystery Suspense, Suspense Literature Fictionttt Romancettt Contemporaryttt Romantic Suspensettt Mystery Suspensettt Suspensettt |
Book One
in the Shadows/Leroy's Sins Collection.
Genre:
Romantic Suspense
Life can go on after tragedy...
After surviving a traumatic attack as a teenager, as well as a disastrous first marriage, Lauren Taylor Grant is content with her life. So what if she gets lonely from time to time? With a healthy, beautiful daughter, and a successful coffee shop-cafe, the divorced single mother convinces herself she doesn't have time for love. When she gets her first glimpse at her parents' handsome new neighbor, though, she starts reconsidering her stance. Once Charlie Clark begins breaking through her defensive walls, Lauren finds him hard to resist.
Nothing stays hidden forever...
Just as Lauren is learning to let go of the past and embrace the future, her personal demons rear their ugly heads in the guise of a vandal hell-bent on destroying Lauren's happiness. When another local businesswoman is brutally murdered, the investigation into the crime reveals an unexpected connection to Lauren's past. The message is clear--the past has come calling, and it's out for blood.
Note for Readers: This book does deal with the issues of incest and sexual abuse, more with the effects on the victims than the abuse itself. Reader Discretion Advised.
"Secrets in the Shadows" is the first book in the Shadows Collection, Romantic Suspense novels set in small-town Indiana. Other titles include "Under the Moon's Shadow," "Shadows from the Grave,""Hidden in the Shadows," and "In the Heart's Shadow."
A self-proclaimed bibliophile, T. L. Haddix has had a life-long love affair with the written word. After trying several different career routes, including medical transcription, genealogical research services and a very brief career as a sandwich artist, she finally took the plunge she had been avoiding for years and started writing. She is constantly creating, whether it is painting, drawing, designing house plans, cooking, baking, crocheting, knitting or quilting, the drive to create an intrinsic part of who she is. Living in Southern Indiana with her husband and their three cat children, she is currently hard at work on her next novel. T. L. loves to hear from her fans, and can be reached through her website at www.tlhaddix.com.
Secrets in the Shadows
T. L. Haddix
Streetlight Graphics Publishing
A division of Streetlight Graphics
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright 2010 by Tabatha L. Haddix
ISBN 13: 978-0-9845281-2-7
ISBN 10: 0-9845281-2-1
Revised Edition released: January 2012
Cover Design by Streetlight Graphics, Copyright 2011
Visit
www.tlhaddix.com
for updates, news, bonuses and freebies.
Editor: Karen Allen of Red Adept Publishing
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information address Streetlight Graphics Publishing, a division of Streetlight Graphics.
Table of Contents
To all the women and men out there who have known the pain of abuse - never stop fighting for yourselves
.
Cast of Characters
Lauren Grant
- Owns the Brown Bag Café. Single mother to Ava, daughter of Molly and Winston Taylor.
Charlie Clark
- Owns Clark Consulting, an internet-based security company. Neighbor of Winston and Molly.
Winston and Molly Taylor
– Parents of Lauren Taylor Grant.
Ava Grant
– Daughter of Lauren Taylor Grant.
Margie Vernon
– Lauren’s cousin through marriage. Has been missing for over thirteen years.
Carl and Mary Margaret Vernon
– Parents of Margie Vernon.
Troy Vernon
– Youngest child of Carl and Mary Margaret, brother to Margie.
Charity Vaughn
– Owner of The Gallery, Leroy’s upscale art gallery.
Beth Hudson
- Reporter for the
Olman County Journal
, the newspaper owned by her grandfather, Sampson Olman.
Ethan Moore
- Detective with the Olman County Sheriff’s Department.
Annie Jameson Tucker
- Owns Annie’s Arbor, flower shop. Best friends with Beth and Lauren. Half-sister of Charlie Clark.
Stacy Kirchner
- Detective with the Olman County Sheriff’s Department.
David Grant
– Ex-husband of Lauren, Ava’s father. Police officer in New Salem, Indiana.
Josie Grant
– David’s second wife.
Margie Vernon was in a foul mood. No one thing in particular had set her off, but a slow-burning hatred seemed to erode her very soul, leaving nothing but the anger behind. As she drove down the interstate, wind whipping through her hair, she took a drag off her cigarette and held the smoke in her lungs until it hurt. Exhaling, she thought about the mess she was leaving behind.
Glancing at the clock on the car’s dashboard, she saw that it was nearly nine o’clock. The sun had been up for three hours. She felt a tiny pang of guilt, thinking about what had gone on the previous night. Her cousin Lauren hadn’t had a clue what Margie’d had in store for her when they went to bed last night. It was late enough now for Lauren to be awake and know what happened. Or maybe not, if the drug Margie’d given her had done its job.
She felt a wave of nausea roll through her stomach. Cursing, she chalked it up to morning sickness and started looking for the nearest exit. When she saw the sign denoting a rest area ahead, she had to bite her lip to keep from crying with relief. She refused to acknowledge her grief and guilt, instead blaming her distress on the child she carried in her womb.
A short while later, she was back in the car, feeling the need to put more miles between Indiana and herself. After all, the last thing she wanted was to get caught in a stolen car.
~
* ~
Margie hadn’t always hated Lauren. Quite the contrary—they’d been as close as sisters, perhaps closer, ever since they were respectively nine and eight years old. Cousins by marriage, they saw each other at family events, holidays, reunions, and the like. During the summer, the girls would visit each other, spending two weeks at a time at each other’s houses. They had halcyon childhoods for the most part; at least until things changed.
The third of six children, Margie had always been happy, making good grades, and quietly setting goals for her future. Her plans didn’t mesh well with the ideals and plans of her devoutly religious and fundamentally conservative parents.